It's A Black Life
by shadowlynxbehr
Summary: This was an idea I had for entering JBNP's ANON One-Shot Contest celebrating some kind of an anniversary for Jacob & Bella, but I was unable to finish it in time. However, I promised Niamhg that I would write it regardless, so with the inspiration of the banner Lady of Spain created and I adopted, I was able to finally complete Jacob & Bella's 25th wedding anniversary one-shot. AU.


**Notes: Since she is always encouraging me to write my stories, I dedicated this one to my Soul Sista, Niamhg. Thank you chica, for being you. :D**

**You can find the link for Lady of Spain's banner on my bio page. I'm glad she did it because it inspired many of the scenes in this one-shot.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original ideas.**

"But why can't I be the one to cook the chicken? You always get to do it!"

Jacob tried not to roll his eyes at the whine he could hear in fourteen-year-old Sara's voice as twenty-year-old Jacy answered her in a calm manner. "You can help me cook it, Sara. I didn't say you couldn't."

Before Sara could start stomping, because he knew that was next, he interjected in his own soothing tone. "Sara, honey, Jacy knows how to cook it since she's the one going to culinary school."

"But daaaad!"

"Sara!" This time he put a little of that old Alpha timbre in his voice, which he knew didn't always work around his children, but it was worth a try. "Jacy said you could help her, so I suggest you let her guide you, okay? You know your mom always said the best way to learn is to work with someone else."

When his daughter continued to pout and glare at her older sister, he resorted to using his own brand of bribery. Giving her the same puppy dog eyes he often used on the girls' mother, he pleaded, "Sara, my little miracle, please? Let Jacy show you how to do it. I really want this anniversary to be perfect for your mom."

Needless to say the look on his face and the endearment he used were the things Sara never could say no to. Immediately her pique deflated as she threw herself into her father's arms.

Hugging him tightly, she sniffled. "Okay, daddy. I'm sorry, I know you want this to be the best anniversary surprise for mom."

Jacob hugged his little miracle back, trying not to squeeze her too hard, least she have trouble breathing the way he often made her mom do when he hugged her.

When he let go of her, she went to Jacy's side while he watched as the two of them went to work on the chicken in a more amicable manner. He smiled at the way the older daughter patiently walked the younger, more excitable daughter through the process of cooking. Watching them together, he could see how much Jacy seemed to have the perfect mix of both him and his wife.

Like Bella, Jacy had been born to cook. From the moment the little girl had been able to walk, she had been glued to her mother's apron when they were in the kitchen where Bella had willingly allowed Jacy to shadow her all the while. Because of that, it wasn't any surprise to anyone who knew her when Jacy announced that she was going to culinary school once she graduated from high school.

Having finished her second year at the university, she had returned to spend a couple of weeks at home with her parents before going to work as an apprentice in Seattle where she also lived and attended school close to her older brother, Issac. Bella and Jacob were both glad to see Jacy for those two weeks and Jacy had timed it perfectly so that she could be there when they celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

As Jacy continued to instruct Sara, Jacob could see the calmness she had in her, just like he had in himself. Like Jacob, Jacy was a leader, one who could patiently guide others in whatever she put her mind to. She was also the one most of the younger generation ran to when they needed a shoulder to cry on or some cheering up. Her sunny personality always tended to win strangers over too, making them feel comfortable around her.

Yet the one thing she shared with both her parents was the need to always take care of others. Like Bella had cared for her own parents growing up and Jacob had cared for his father, Jacy seemed to take over those duties when she was old enough to do so. If Jacob and Bella were too busy running around, Jacy held down the fort for them. She was so good at it that Jacob had no qualms about leaving Billy in her care when she had been a mere teenager.

Even though Jacy had that mix of her parents qualities in her, she was the spitting image of her mother. Same hair, same eyes, same nose…everything down to the little mole beneath their chin. She had even looked like Bella had as a baby that her nickname had become, Twin.

All of their kids had their own nickname, which is why he had called Sara, Miracle. She knew when he said that, he was referring to her birth.

Despite the fact that Jacob and Bella already had two kids before Sara came along, they had been trying to add more. Two years after Jacy, Bella had gotten pregnant with what they thought would be their third child. However, due to Bella's reproductive system, she had miscarried the child within three months of conception.

The loss had been devastating to Bella even with a six and two-year-old already in the family. While the loss itself hadn't effected Jacob as much, it was seeing Bella's pain that had devastated him because there was nothing he could do to make things better for the woman he loved. In the end, it was the love of her kids and Jacob that had helped her soldier on, so that she could heal until she was at the point where she wanted to try again.

Still, it had taken another two years before Bella was able to get pregnant again, which then prompted all of them to watch her with caution. Thankfully this time she was able to hold on to the baby, but the pregnancy hadn't been kind to Bella. By the sixth month, the doctor was ordering her to bed, afraid not only for the baby but for Bella herself.

Jacob had even begun to blame himself for all of it, saying it was his fault for wanting a big family, talking Bella into it. But Bella had been strong throughout it all, insisting that Jacob hadn't talked her into anything, she wanted a huge family too. From the moment she had fallen in love with Jacob, she had dreamed of having lots of his children and she refused to be denied that dream.

Six years after Jacy, Sara had been born amidst tears of relief and joy. Relief that both mother and child had survived the birth at all, for Bella had gone into labor a full month before she was due. Joy because after Bella had given birth, she had suddenly gone into cardiac arrest, flatlining for so long that the doctor was just about to pronounce her gone when her body had suddenly jerked back to life right before she began gasping for air.

When Bella had gone into cardiac arrest, Jacob had been shoved aside, stunned that his wife would leave him and their three children alone. Tears had welled up in his eyes as he'd leaned heavily against the wall, using it to support his body that wanted to crumble to the floor. He'd closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the tiled wall at one point, amidst the shouting of "clear" and the sound of that horrible flatline.

Then through his sobs, he heard the sounds of Bella gasping and the doctor shouting orders to the nurses. Scared that he was imagining things, hoping against hope, he slowly lifted his head then turned to peek over his arm towards the bed. Once more he was stunned as the image of his wife's wide eyes stared straight at him even while she reached out towards him in entreaty while ignoring the many hands trying to hold her down.

Unable to resist the plea in her eyes, he pushed away from the wall and stumbled to her side. Gripping her hand in his, placing it over his heart, he leaned over her to sob, "I'm here Bells, I'm here. I'll always be here."

She had nodded, still taking deep breaths with the oxygen mask she was now wearing. She wouldn't let go of his hand while they worked on her to make sure she was stabilizing so they wouldn't lose her again. Even when they had proclaimed that she was out of the woods, she still held on to him like a lifeline, but he wasn't complaining because she was his lifeline too.

Later, when she had been moved to a room where mother and daughter were united for the first time, Jacob had held them both in his arms as he whispered into Bella's ear.

"I love you, Bells."

She had turned her head to look up into his eyes. Her raspy answer, had taken his breath away. "I'm getting another chance Jake. I came back to fall in love with you again, to love you more than before."

Because of that close call, they had deemed Sara, Miracle, to represent both her birth and Bella's miraculous victory against death.

"Daddy, can I have a soda?"

The exuberant voice of his eight-year-old son drew Jacob out of his musings. He turned to see Jonathan hovering in the doorway to the kitchen, practically bouncing from the natural energy he already possessed.

Giving him a smile, he moved towards the cabinet to get a cup for his son. "How about some juice instead?"

Jon rolled his eyes. "I want a soda."

"I know you do, but you can't have one right now. Only when mommy gets back, okay?"

The little boy huffed. "Kay, and grandpa wants a beer."

Jacob could hear Billy chuckling from the living room. Shaking his head, he raised his voice loud enough to say, "Well, he is gonna get some juice too."

He quickly poured juice into two cups for both his son and Billy. Handing one of the cups to his son, he followed him into the living room where Billy sat watching television in his wheelchair. As Jonathan made himself comfortable in front of the TV, Jacob handed the other cup to his father with a frown.

"Shame on you old man, trying to get your way by using my son, you know if I gave you a beer Bella would have both our hides."

Billy graciously accepted the juice with a shrug. "No harm in trying, son."

Jacob folded his arms in front of his chest. "Right. Even when you already knew the answer."

Shaking his head at his father, he glanced over towards Jonathan to see him glued to the cartoon he was watching. For once he was sitting still as he sipped his juice through the straw in the cup Jacob had given him. Jacob knew fate had finally come to bite his ass when Bella had given birth to their youngest child who was nicknamed the Surprise for various reasons.

Jonathan may look like a combination of both of his parents, but in every other way, he was his father through and through. He was the one who always got into trouble although he wasn't purposely trying to find it. Trouble always found him, just like it used to find his father.

He would often surprise his mother with gifts of croaking frogs and wriggling worms, proud of himself for finding the slimiest, most dirt-encrusted creatures. Not only that, but it was rare that a day went by that he wasn't covered in dirt, sweat or blood. His parents had long stopped panicking every time he showed up with blood on him because no matter what Jon did, he seemed to take a licking and kept on ticking. The day he showed up crying would be that day they started to panic since he was always sporting a missing tooth grin no matter what.

However, the real reason for Jon's nickname was the fact that neither Bella nor Jacob had expected to have another child after Sara. Due to the drama of Sara's birth, Jacob and Bella had decided that three children was enough, so they stopped trying to have children. Unfortunately, they should have gone with Bella getting her tubes tied, but all they had done was put Bella back on birth control.

Six years after Sara, Jacob and Bella realized that somehow even the pills weren't that effective anymore because their son came roaring into the world with a vengeance. Unlike Sara, Jonathan was an easy birth since the boy seemed eager to greet the world as soon as he could. Grateful that both the pregnancy and the birth had been extremely easy, and amidst jokes that Alpha wolf sperm was just that persistent, Bella finally decided to get her tubes tied as soon as she was able to.

With four kids, their family was complete. Sure the spacing of them was rather strange, but it couldn't be helped. It hadn't really mattered anyway since there was always an abundance of so-called cousins the children could bond with among the children of Jacob's wolf pack brothers.

Giving his son one last look, he leaned over his father to whisper, "You handling things out here okay?"

Billy set his cup down on the end table next to him then waved a hand at Jacob. "I've got it, son. He's not a problem today. We're just chilling watching toons, you go back and get the food done before Bells gets back from Port Angeles."

Jacob chuckled as his father shooed him back into the kitchen. The old man may have been in his late seventies, but thanks to Bella's stern hand, his diabetes was kept under great control. Jacob was grateful when Bella began spending so much time at Billy's home where she could cook the kind of food that Billy could eat as well as tell him what he could and couldn't do where his health was concerned. Jacob had tried on his own for so long, but with Bella's backing, they had managed to prolong Billy's life to the point that he seemed the healthiest he'd ever been.

The way she had seamlessly come into the Black house once she and Jacob had started dating, had only made Jacob fall in love with her even more. Somehow, with Jacob's help, she had managed to get over the leech leaving her in the forest the way the cowardly thing had. It had been a long road to recovery, but along the way she had finally opened up to Jacob's advances so that when the pack had caught Victoria before she could escape into the ocean, Bella was more than ready to take that leap into a relationship with him. They had celebrated by cliff diving together and Bella had never looked back.

It was almost as if her fear had disappeared beneath the ocean waves, so when she emerged from the water, she was the newer, stronger, more take charge kind of woman she had been destined to become. Of course, along with her new strength, she had approached her new relationship with Jacob with eyes wide open. Somehow Bella had realized how messed up her reaction to the leech leaving had looked to everyone else, thus she had set out to let everyone know she had learned her lesson and become a better person because of it.

She had told Jacob she wanted to date him like normal teenagers did, even with the supernatural part of his life involved. It had been hard on his part, because both the teen boy and the wolf in him wanted nothing more than to make Bella his, but luckily Bella had been strong for the both of them. Sure, they had begun having sex by the time Jacob was seventeen to Bella's nineteen. And sure they had gotten married a month after Jacob had graduated high school when he was eighteen to Bella's twenty, but it's what they both had wanted.

Bella had been taking classes over the internet once she had graduated, but when she had gotten pregnant a few months after their wedding, she stopped the moment their son, Issac, was born. Sure, in between children she had somehow managed to finish her degree in management thus able to take over those duties once Jacob had opened his own garage right next door to the home the pack had built for their Alpha and his mate.

Having their business next to their house allowed both Jacob and Bella to spend more time with their children, plus the size allowed for Billy to move in with them once it got to be too much for him on his own. Granted, Paul and Rachel had lived with Billy in the little red house, but everyone agreed that Bella, Jacob and Jacy were the best caretakers when it came to Billy's health. So, Paul and Rachel lived in the red house, keeping it in the family, while Billy moved in with Jacob and Bella.

Luckily by the time Billy needed more care, Jonathan had just been born, giving Bella lots more time to keep an eye on her father-in-law. Jacy was twelve at the time and on her way to being just as good as her mom at caretaking. The other two children, Sara at six and Issac at fifteen were at the ages where there were more important things that hooked their attention. Like toys and girls, respectively.

Of course, for Issac, it wasn't just the girls that had his interest. He was also dealing with his own phasing issues like his father once had. It was really something else when Issac had celebrated his birthday with his family the night before, then the next day he'd gotten angry with his cousin over a girl and poof, two wolves suddenly started fighting in the Blacks' backyard.

Luckily both Issac and Chase had grown up listening to the stories as well as knowing that their fathers were wolves or the phasing would have been a surprise to them. Like their fathers before them, the two were always at odds with each other and often ended up butting heads over the smallest of things. Unlike Paul, who had come to easily follow Jacob as the Alpha, Chase still didn't like following Issac when it came to pack rules. To this day Paul was at his wits' end trying to drill some sense of preservation into his son's head.

Throughout it all, Issac seemed to remain much more level-headed, taking his father's advice while leading the new smaller pack of Quileute wolves. Jacob smiled as he continued to think of his eldest son while he went back to cutting vegetables for the anniversary dinner.

Issac was the spitting image of him, but he seemed to have a good combination of both Jacob and Bella's traits. Like Jacob, Issac was good at working with anything mechanical, but he also loved books like Bella did. He had a good head on his shoulders, but could be prone to fierce protectiveness and a quick temper the way Jacob could. On the other hand, he could also over think things the way Bella did until he worried himself sick over it. Thankfully those things didn't happen too often since his best friend and Beta, Luke, was there to help him out.

Still, Jacob was glad Issac was protective of those he called his own. It made it that much easier for Jacob to relax when Bella made trips where Jacob couldn't go with her, like today for instance. She was currently shopping in Port Angeles with Issac, not knowing that the reason Jacob had sent her to shop there was because he needed her out of the house to arrange the anniversary celebration. Issac had agreed to take her since amazingly, he was a mellow twenty-four-year-old guy who happened to like shopping.

Jacob chuckled to himself at that thought, who would have thought that his eldest son would be a metrosexual man who turned into a wolf when he needed to protect his people? Talk about a juxtaposition in nature, yet despite Issac's affinity for clothes, he was still nicknamed, Wolfie, because of his animal side.

The timer on the oven suddenly went off, bringing Jacob back from his musings of his family. Glancing at the clock, he sighed. He waited until Jacy and Sara had removed the cake from the oven before speaking up.

"We've got to get a move on girls. The others will be here soon to help set up everything and Emily said she was bringing more things to help us cook."

The girls nodded before placing the prepared chicken in the oven as Jacob went back to finishing his own task.

Bella sighed as she stared out of the window at the passing scenery. It had been a long day of shopping in Port Angeles, but while she wasn't tired, she was eager to get home to the rest of her family. She knew Jacob and Jacy could handle the younger kids and Billy, but she always felt much better when she was close by just in case.

Issac reached out to squeeze his mother's hand comfortingly. As she turned to face him, he gave her a smile so like his father's. "You okay mom?"

She nodded as she continued to hold his warm hand. "Fine, just ready to get home, I guess."

Issac winked in understanding. It was yet another thing he had in common with his father. He always seemed to know just what his mother was thinking.

"No worries, mom. Everyone's okay. I talked to Jacy at our last stop, to let her know we were getting ready to return. She said everyone is fine."

Bella nodded. "That's good then. Thanks for checking on them for me."

"Sure, sure," replied Issac before returning his full attention to the road.

Bella studied her son's profile as he drove, remembering the times she had spent studying her husband's profile. In fact, she still did it from time to time, finding him just as beautiful as the day she had fallen in love with him. Sure, now he was looking his age at forty-three, just like she was, but she still thought he was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on.

Of course, she wasn't the only one who thought so. To this day, Jacob was still having to fend off the advances of females everywhere they went. It had to be the allure of his now hidden wolf or maybe there was something about him that just drew them in like moths to a flame. His sunny smile, his friendly presence or maybe it was the way he fit the tall, dark and handsome profile so well.

Whatever it was, Bella had done her best to learn to live with it, especially since deep down inside she knew Jacob had always only had eyes for her. Every day he let her know that and every day she tried to remember it. Most of the time, it wasn't so hard, but there had been a time when it had been.

Bella could still remember it like it was yesterday. It had been when she was still pregnant with Jonathan, right after Jacob had finally stopped phasing since Issac had taken up the mantle of Alpha of the new wolf pack. Her hormones had been going crazy so much that by the sixth month she felt larger than a whale and uglier than the wicked witch of the west.

Jacob had been putting in more hours at the garage, making up for the time he had spent showing Issac the ways of the wolf while Bella had been stuck at home with the other kids and Billy. Eleven-year-old Jacy had been trying to help ease the burden on her mother, but Bella was still feeling the strain of it all. It hadn't helped that she couldn't remember the last time she had a quiet moment with her husband, thinking it had been months since that had occurred.

With that in mind, she had decided to make a lunch for him since the kids were in school and Billy was taking a nap. She figured she could eat lunch with Jacob before Kim dropped Sara off from preschool.

Imagine her surprise when she waddled up to the garage to see her husband bent over the hood of a car with a leggy blonde in a tight miniskirt and stiletto heels practically draped over him. As Bella had slowed her walk, Jacob had straightened up and turned to give the blonde his sunny smile. The blonde answered that by pushing her ample cleavage into Jacob's chest while batting her thick eyelashes up at him.

Bella could only stand there gaping as Jacob chuckled at something the woman said as she placed a hand on his grease-stained bicep. As Jacob smirked at her, shaking his head while covering the hand she had on his bicep, Bella dropped the basket she'd been holding and turned to run back home.

To her eyes, her husband looked like he was flirting with the woman, but what she hadn't realized was Jacob had been laughing at the woman's pathetic attempts to flirt with a happily married man, while trying to be polite enough to remove her hand and chest from touching his body. He had attempted to let her know he was happily married, but she was being annoyingly persistent and not in a good way.

Luckily he had heard the basket hitting the ground, turning in time to see Bella beginning to run back to the house. Even though he was no longer a wolf, his senses were still rather good, so his nose told him that Bella had come to have lunch with him and his mind put two and two together, letting him know what kind of conclusion she had come to that sent her running for the house.

Calling out to Embry to take over for him, he had extracted himself from the clingy blonde, then ran after Bella, catching up to her before she had even gotten very far at all. Bella had been fighting back the tears as Jacob caught her and turned her into his embrace.

Holding her tightly, he'd murmured into her hair. "Bells, it's me, you know I would never do what you think I did."

She sniffled against his chest before she mumbled, "I know, I just…I miss you so much."

He held her tighter. "I miss you too, honey."

He pulled back to cup her face in hands, kissing her forehead first before pressing a soft kiss against her lips. "Come on, let me get the basket of food and we'll go have a private picnic in our room."

She glanced up at him through watery eyes. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Embry's got the garage until I get back." He smiled down at her. "What do you say, honey? Lunch? Just you and me?"

She gave him a dreamy smile. "I'd like that, Jake."

His smile bloomed into the one she loved the most, making her heart race. "I love you Bells, I'll always fall in love with you more than I did the day before."

He had sealed that proclamation with another long, sweet kiss before going to retrieve the basket. Taking her hand with his, they had walked to their bedroom, lounging on the bed and feeding each other until Sara had come home from preschool.

That memory had been one of many that had made Bella fall in love with Jacob all over again, just like she knew it had been the same for Jacob. Over the years there seemed to be something that they did for each other that made them love each other a little more. Something that made all of their years together seem better than anything they could have ever dreamed of despite the occasional bad day in between.

"Hey mom, we're here." Issac, interrupted with a soft voice.

Bella looked out the front window of the car with a smile as her home came into view. The garage was open, showing off the red Chevy pick-up truck that had been given to her all those years ago when she had first moved back to Forks. Jacob had managed to lovingly restore it to its former glory a few years back when he had both the time and money to do so since his business was flourishing.

Issac parked his car in the driveway next to the family's SUV before turning to give her a smile. "Why don't you go on in, I'll get the bags."

"You sure?" She asked as she unbuckled her seat belt.

He winked at her. "Yep."

She grinned at him as she snatched up her purse, jumped out of the car then ran up to the front door, eager to see the rest of her family. She opened the door and stepped inside, but instead of being greeted by a ball of eight-year-old energy, the house appeared to be…empty.

She frowned as she set her purse down on the side table before heading to the kitchen where the family often congregated, if not the living room. Again, emptiness greeted her.

Her frown deepened as Issac walked into the house, arms laden with shopping bags. He set the bags down inside the door as he asked, "What's wrong?"

Bella turned to face her son with the frown still marring her features. "It seems no one is here."

Issac raised an eyebrow as he moved away from her, heading towards the back of the house. "Hm, that's weird, I'll check the back rooms."

Bella sighed as she looked around the kitchen, then the living room for any clues as to where her entire family had disappeared to. She was still in the living room when she heard Issac's voice calling her from the back of the house.

"Mom? Can you come to the game room for a second?"

His words made her quicken her steps as she hurried down the wide hallway towards the game room in the back of the house. Issac was standing in the doorway, with a frown on his face.

"What is it?" she asked, now worried.

Issac shook his head as he took her arm and ushered her into the room, bypassing the pool table and other games until he came to a stop near the sliding doors that led to the back deck.

Issac sighed heavily. "Take a look at this, mom."

Then, with a sweep of his hand, he pushed back the curtains to reveal…a deck full of smiling people.

And at the forefront of them all was…her husband.

With her favorite smile on his face, Jacob approached her, holding out a bouquet of wildflowers to her. "Happy anniversary, Bells."

With those words, the rest of the crowd echoed his sentiments before soft music began to flow through the area. Bella blushed as she took the bouquet from Jacob and turned to see Issac now wearing a huge smile.

She tsked at him. "You knew about this all along, didn't you?"

He shrugged, "Hey, I'm good at keeping secrets, unlike others I know."

Sara stuck out her tongue at her older brother before hugging her mother. "Happy anniversary, mom."

Bella accepted the hug Sara gave her as she said thank you, then Jacy hugged her next. "Congrats mom, I'm so happy for you and dad."

Bella chuckled. "Thanks baby, and I'm so glad you and Issac are here to celebrate with us."

As she stepped back, Issac gave his mother a hug as he said, "You know we wouldn't miss this for anything, mom! We love you and dad."

Bella's eyes were starting to tear up at the love her family was bestowing on her. She hugged Issac tightly before letting him go, then stooped as Jonathan ran into her arms. "Happy annie mommy!"

Bella laughed at his exuberance as she hugged him too. "Thank you, my little man."

When she straightened up, Jacob wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. "You okay?"

She nodded as she wiped away a stray tear. "Yeah, just really surprised…and amazed. I can't believe you pulled this together."

He grinned as he helped her wipe away her tears with gentle fingers. "I had help, I'll tell you more later. Right now, you ready to greet the others?"

With a nod, she let him guide her to the others gathered on their deck. It wasn't really a huge crowd. Just those close to them. Namely both the old and new wolf packs and their families, plus Charlie. Bella and Jacob greeted them all with hugs and a thank you, plus smiles and laughter.

There was a table full of gifts for them and three other tables full of food which Bella soon found out was made by Jacob, Jacy and Sara with additions from Sue and several other women in the family. The set up had also been done by those in attendance and one of Quil's sons was acting as the DJ since he liked to do that on the side. Luckily he was a very versatile DJ, using music that appealed to all generations instead of the younger one that he was a part of.

Surrounded by her family and Jacob, Bella soon relaxed enough to enjoy the festivities, partaking of the food and fun that had been provided. As she sat next to Jacob, having finished her meal, she patted her full stomach before giving Issac and Jacy a concerned look.

"Where's Ariana and Landon?" Ariana was Issac's fiancée and Landon was Jacy's boyfriend.

Issac set his drink down before answering her. "Ariana knew this was just a family celebration, she didn't want to interfere. She sent you a gift though." He motioned to the table where all the gifts still sat unopened.

"And I didn't think it was a good idea to invite Landon to this since we're not that serious yet," added Jacy.

Bella sighed as she sat forward to look at both of them. "You both know that your father and I wouldn't have turned them away, right?"

Jacob growled as he narrowed his eyes at Jacy. "Speak for yourself."

Bella punched him in the arm. "Oh stop being such an overbearing lug! She's old enough to handle things on her own, Jake."

He shrugged. "Not so long as I live."

Jacy giggled. "It's okay, mom. Dad's just being a dad, no worries."

Bella shook her head, but let it go since she didn't want anything to ruin her good mood. Both Issac and Jacy seemed to be doing okay without their significant others there, so Bella wasn't going to push it anymore. Settling back into the chair, she leaned into her husband's side as he draped an arm around her shoulders.

Both of them were content to watch as their family talked and laughed around them, even joining in the conversations from time to time. Throughout the evening, the couple found themselves joining in some of the games, laughing over the antics of both themselves and others.

Then, the song they had deemed their wedding song came on, prompting Jacob to hold his hand out to her.

"May I have this dance, honey?"

Bella beamed at him as she set her hand in his. "Of course, you may."

He led her to the area that had been set aside as the dance floor, taking her in his arms, holding her close as the music surrounded them.

Bella laid her head on his chest, enjoying the feel of his body wrapped around hers while listening to the beating of his heart against her ear. She sighed in contentment. She could feel Jacob pressing his face into her hair, taking a deep breath of her scent before murmuring to her.

"I still remember our wedding like it was yesterday."

"Me too," she whispered, knowing he would hear her words.

Their wedding had been a simple one, just like everyone had known they would have. It had been deemed a wedding fit for Jake and Bells, out on the beach during the summer, the weather actually cooperating as if the gods themselves were looking down on them.

Bella had worn a form-fitting cotton and lace dress with a small train that had been fitted with an elastic band to loop around her wrist to keep it from trailing in the sand. Jacob had worn a white shirt tucked into black pants, but no coat or tie. While their clothes looked a little formal, they both had remained barefoot.

It wasn't until they had moved to the tribal center for their reception did Jacob's shirt become untucked. He'd also rolled up his sleeves and undid a few buttons on his shirt since his body temperature still ran hot, but he hadn't wanted to toss his shirt off completely during the reception, knowing Bella would have been blushing the entire time if he had. Bella had stayed in her wedding dress, but had slid into ballet flats to keep her feet warm while Jacob had remained barefoot.

Still, they had both been unable to stop looking into each others eyes since Bella had first locked onto Jacob's while walking down the aisle towards him. Even as they were surrounded by the well-wishers at the reception, they had never let the other out of their sight nor had they ventured from each others side.

When their song had finally started, Jacob had enfolded Bella into his arms, whirling her around until the were in the middle of the dance floor where he set her on her feet and proceeded to dance slowly with her. Throughout the song, he gazed into her eyes, mouthing the words as she smiled lovingly up at him.

As the song came to a close, Jacob had leaned over, pressing his lips against the exposed skin of her neck and whispered, "Today, when you appeared at the end of the aisle, I realized you were going to be my wife, forever…and that thought made me fall in love with you all over again."

With those past words now echoing in her mind, Bella leaned back from her husband to gaze into his eyes. The noise of their family, there to celebrate the success of Jacob and Bella's twenty-five years of married life, surrounded them while making them feel cocooned in love and safety.

She smiled at Jacob, waiting until he returned it. Then, with her gaze falling into his, her soul linking with his soul the way it always did, she said, "Today, when you held out those wild flowers and told me happy anniversary, I realized that I've spent twenty-five wonderful years with you as my husband…and it made me fall in love with you all over again."

His smile bloomed, shining bright both inside and out of him. "I love you too, Bells. Thank you, for choosing me to spend your life with. It's been a wonderful life."

She chuckled as various highlights of their life together seemed to flit through their eyes. "Nah, Jake, it's more than wonderful…it's a Black life."

He responded with his own chuckle as he hugged her close as he murmured, "And I wouldn't have it any other way."


End file.
